The Great Medoc Re-Run Re-Run ( or just another long run)

Is the glass half full or half empty?  Two ways to look at today . . .

Option #1  (and my personal favorite!)

Today was the running of the 2010 Great Medoc Marathon Re-Run, Re-Run.

The race began at the crack of 9 am and the field was totally out of site within 4 minutes.  The weather started out perfect but as the day wore on temperatures climbed into the . . . well . . . I'm not sure but it felt warm.  During the first lap, the field stayed within a comfortable pace, saving the effort for the later laps.

Beginning with lap 2, the pace quickened and the leader emerged from the pack with a strong pace.  While the hills tended to have a detrimental effect on the leader, he more then made up the time with his blazing downhills.  By the end of lap 2 he had a comfortable lead.

During Lap 3 you could tell the pace was taking its toll and the leader backed off, knowing his lead was sufficient to assure victory.  In the last two miles, the leader clearly wanted to demonstrate his dominance over the field by again pressing the pace to an amazing level and crossed the finish line with no competitor in sight!

What a finish!!

Option #2

Well, I'm supposed to be getting ready for Umstead.  And I never really earned my Medoc Marathon medal since I fell during the Medoc Re-Run and quite at ~18.  So today was a holiday . . . 

Started running at about 9 am.  Man, were my legs ever heavy and sore.  Took it easy for sure.  I ran the normal Medoc Marathon track.  By the end of Lap 1 my soreness went away and I felt amazingly good considering.  Ran all downhills and probably 2/3 of the flats.  Uphill . . . well, I just walked!  But I carried my saw and ended up cutting probably 12 trees that were blocking the trail.  Made for a slow loop but that really what I needed!  By the time I finished Lap 1 the trail was 100% clear!!   (You are welcome Ron!  I got that nasty downed tree just before the climb to the summit!)

Lap 2 was pretty much a duplicate of Lap 1 but just no soreness and no trees to saw!.  But I decided to run this lap backward . . . well . . . not really BACKWARDS . . . I just reversed direction.  And surprisingly I felt pretty good, all things considered!

I was loving the day!  Awesome weather and it just felt great to be out in the woods.  No drama so far and I was surprised I had seen no one on the trails.  But as I finished the lap there were several people at the picnic shelter.

Lap 3 started off slow . . . okay . . . slower the usual!  Starting to feel it.  Continued running the backward direction - I actually think it is a tad easier this way!!  After the short Bluff loop, I continued on and soon started seeing people!!  Wow!

Got to the Summit road and near the end came up on three kids (okay . . . not really 'kid' . . . they were in their 20s!) who wanted to know the quickest way back to the picnic shelter!  Thank God!  A solid reason to just walk until I could show them the short trail back to the bridge!

A little further I passed a mother and daughter coming up the trail to the summit.  Another good reason to walk!!

I hate the hill on the Dam Site trail!  Those rock are just killers.  Each lap I tried to kick off or throw off the larger loose rocks . . . but when I returned there were new ones to take their place.  Where on earth do they come from??

Pretty much survival pace until I finally left the creek for the final gentle climb back to the picnic shelter for the finish.  Decided to run this uphill section.  Almost made running it all . . . but not quite!!

Luckily, just after I finished a group of motorcycle riders drove up and one took a picture of me at the end!

Tired . . . but glad I did it!